Work is due to start soon on a new three-storey, 90-room hotel in Selborne - the first East London venture for the City Lodge Hotel group.

But the group says there is the possibility of more to come in the city and elsewhere in the region.

The Road Lodge - entry-level accommodation in the City Lodge group - is to be built on the corner of Cheltenham Road and Union Avenue at an estimated total cost of R18 million.

This is the piece of land used by the circus over the past few years when it visited East London. The neighbouring sports fields will not be affected.

On Thursday City Lodge Hotels chief executive Clifford Ross and Buffalo City's director of development planning Craig Sam confirmed that work on the hotel would start within the next few weeks.

Ross said the hotel would cover about 4500m² of the 6000m² stand and, once work starts, it is expected to be completed within six months - in time for next summer's holiday season.

Sam said the hotel group has shown an interest in East London since 1988 when it approached the municipality about putting a City Lodge on the Court Crescent site on the beachfront.

It was part of the unsuccessful casino bid which included a City Lodge on the casino site at Signal Hill above the harbour.

Ross said: "We did not get that and have been looking for a suitable site in the area for some time."

Sam said the negotiations for the current hotel site started about three years ago and eventually the group settled on the land in Cheltenham Road.

The municipality sold it "for a market-related price" of R1,5m.

The hotel hopes to capitalise on Buffalo City's growing sports tourism and business travel market.

"We are going with a Road Lodge first and, once we have a foothold in East London, we would like to expand," Ross said from Johannesburg.

"If we were to put up a City Lodge we would hope to position it closer to the sea."

Ross said his group was close to being able to build a hotel in Mthatha.

"We have identified land but at this stage are still trying to secure the deal."

Sam said he expected transfer for the East London land to come through within the next six weeks.

He added that the City Lodge group had signed a guarantee and indemnity which had given it the right to start building before the transfer was finalised.

Ross said that, despite wanting to go ahead as soon as possible, they would "start immediately the transfer has been finalised".

Daily Dispatch
 
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge